Holding Midfield
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After a testing draw away to Paris Saint-Germain in mid-week, Real Madrid may have hoped for an easy ride come the weekend, but they had no such luck. Undefeated and with a 4-1 thrashing of Barcelona to their name, Celta Vigo have started the season in top form and had a very good chance of causing an upset against an injury-plagued Madrid. Rafa Benitez was without Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez, Dani Carvajal and Pepe, while Mateo Kovacic was only fit enough for the bench, although Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos were fit to start. They switched from the 4-4-1-1 they used in Paris to a 4-3-3, while Eduardo Berizzo didn’t have the selection headache of his opposite number, continuing with the 4-3-3 that has been so successful so far. Celta have drawn understandable comparisons to Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao: they push lots of men forward, play the ball upfield quickly and defend from the front when it is lost. It’s the defending where the main similarities lie though – rather than mark zonally as is the norm in this day and age, Bielsa’s teams stick very tight to their man, and, as Bielsa’s former assistant, Berrizo hasn’t strayed […]
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